Rain or Shine

These pictures aren't as clear as the rest because on the second day of our trip it rained hard! No worries, this only made the trip better! The winds picked up and the waves grew stronger making for perfect boogie boarding conditions. We had so much fun playing in the rain! Later that day Riley, Bailey and I dug a tunnel through the sand under Jill's lounge chair. Just as Riley was about to pass through the tunnel for the first time it collapsed. :(

5th Avenue

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5th Avenue is the local hot spot in Playa del Carmen. There are plenty of restaurants, bars, shops and street performers. Riley is a very picky eater and was not real impressed with the food at the resort so he was quite excited to find a McDonald's. He ordered a McNifica which is the Mexican version of a double cheeseburger. Bailey found a neat bar that had swings in lieu of barstools. As displayed by Riley in the last photo we were all quite tired after playing in the sun all day and walking up and down 5th Avenue all night.

Snorkeling in Puerto Morelos

We had a great time during our snorkel trip. We saw eel, starfish, baracuda, crabs and lots of colorful fish. We also saw a lion fish which we were told can cause illness if touched by humans. The guide removed it from the water so he could later kill it, apparently they're not real popular among the locals.

El Gran Gigante Blanco

The following are the thoughts and opinions of Guest Blogger, Jeremy Vaughan, and in no way reflect those of my lovely wife, Jill.

These pictures were taken after we returned from our snorkeling trip. We were in a charming little fishing village called Puerto Morelos. We had a little time before our shuttle took us back to the hotel so we did some exploring. There were some locals struggling to push a fishing boat into the sea. Just when they were about to give up they looked and saw their salvation,"el gran gigante blanco" (the great white giant). They called me over and I helped them push the boat into the water. The men all cheered and lifted me to their shoulders, the villagers brought me small goats and chickens to show their apprecaition and children asked for my autograph. It was pretty spectacular.

Playa del Carmen :) :) :)

This summer we took a trip to Playa del Carmen. We stayed at the Reef Playa Car which turned out to be a great choice. It was in sort of a jungle setting with great landscaping and waterfalls throughout. We saw some interesting wildlife on our resort, one of which was an agouti which ate a cookie right out of Riley's hands. We had a great time kayaking, snorkeling, riding wave runners, boogie boarding, playing volleyball, enjoying the sunshine, eating, drinking, laughing and hanging out together.

More of Our Visit with Justin, Lori and Jordan

As promised I'm finally posting the rest of the pictures of our visit with Justin, Lori and Jordan. We kept pretty busy visiting the Stockyards, swimming and hanging out at Jesse's. Jordan is at a super fun age so it was awesome to get to spend a week with her. Bailey and I even got to babysit while Justin golfed with Jeremy and Lori got in some much needed study time. We went to the dog park, the playground, got ice cream, painted our toes and watched a little t.v. so Jordan could rest which she apparently needed because she passed out on the couch about five minutes after laying down. We also celebrated Jesse, Justin and Eric's birthday's. Colleen, Lori and I ran from store to store in the pouring down rain to get all the gifts but it was worth it and actually a lot of fun :) Can't wait to see them again...hoping to get to Myrtle Beach for a visit next summer.